A political Blog about how and why a reign of terror in West Bengal is unleashed planfully by imperialists, multinational company financed and supported Rainbow Alliance of Maoists, Naxalites,TMC, Congress, SUCI, perverted anti-Communist and anti-Leftist so-called sold-out intellectuals, corporate media and NGOs of doubtful character.

LAUNCHING a scathing attack on communal forces, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said that the RSS and the Sangh Parivar are trying to polarise the people on communal lines with an eye on the 2014 general elections. The recent spurt of communal violence reflected this design.

Addressing a meeting at Kozhikode on November 8, 2013, Karat said, “Today we are facing several major challenges from the forces which want to undermine the democratic secular fabric of our society. Such forces are getting more aggressive." He said so while releasing the CPI(M)’s magazine Mukhyadhara (Mainstream), which is meant exclusively for the minority communities.

Referring to the Muzaffarnagar violence in UP, he said this was not an isolated case. Before that, a series of communal incidents had occurred in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, and later in Bihar. Hence the secular and democratic forces should come together to rebuff the challenges posed by communal forces.

Karat also pointed out that such incidents were taking place at a time when the BJP was projecting Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate at the behest of the RSS. He accused that the Congress led UPA government was reluctant to implement the recommendation of Justice Rajinder Sachhar committee which highlighted the plight of Muslims and their backwardness in areas such as education and employment. The report of the Justice Ranganath Mishra commission, suggesting ten percent reservation for the Muslim community in jobs and education, too had not implemented so far.

Karat recalled how the Left parties were able to mobilise 14 non-Congress secular parties on a common platform on October 30 in a bid to fight communalism.

Releasing the Mukhyadhara quarterly, Karat handed its first copy over to Kutbuddin Ansari. CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi vijayan delivered the keynote address. Dr K T Jaleel, who edits the magazine, also spoke about it.

CPI(M) Central Committe member Paloli Muhammed Kutty released a book titled Malabarile Muslingalum Idathupakshavum (Muslims in Malabar and the Left Front) written by CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.

IN what has surfaced as an unprecedented move to sabotage the solar panel scam investigation, the vigilance registrar of Kerala High Court found on November 13, 2013, that the additional chief judicial magistrate of Eranakulam had failed to record the main portions of the secret statement made by Saritha S Nair, the prime accused in the case. In this secret statement, she is said to have revealed that she was raped by many top politicians of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF).

This shocking judicial finding suggests that the allegations made by the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) about the interference of the state government were justified. The finding became public through a reply to an RTI query. The magistrate’s reluctance to record Ms Saritha’s statement, despite having heard her for about 20 minutes in camera, has raked up huge protest all over the state. The LDF is building up a huge agitation including blockade of official residence of the Kerala chief minister, Oommen Chandi.

One may note that the vigilance registrar, S Mohandas, probed into the magistrate, N V Raju’s procedural lapses on the basis of a complaint. The High Court had sought an explanation from N V Raju within 15 days for not recording the statements of Saritha S Nair who clearly revealed that she was sexually exploited by top UDF politicians. The registrar’s report, submitted to the chief justice, stated it was not known whether Raju acted upon any external pressure.

The magistrate had informed the registrar that Saritha had indeed told him that she was sexually exploited by many. When the magistrate asked whether anyone had raped her, the answer was positive. When she was produced in the court, she had told the magistrate that she wanted to give a statement, but the magistrate didn’t take measures to record her statement. Instead, she was asked to give a statement to the superintendent of the jail where she was lodged.

It is learned that those who sexually exploited Saritha Nair include some persons who are ministers in the state and central governments today. The possibility of starting a new case is also being talked about now and the said magistrate may be called as a witness. The police have to make a suo moto case on the basis of the allegation of rape. The magistrate’s proffered justification was that he did not record of the statement about rape as he was not convinced about it. He also confessed that was not able to hear the names of the persons who had raped Ms Saritha.

CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has demanded immediate dismissal of the magistrate, N V Raju, who played an important role in order to sabotage the case. The findings of the High Court’s vigilance registrar are serious and the latest revelation points to a high level conspiracy. This expose is thus likely to give a new turn to the whole solar panel case. The CPI(M) leader has demanded that the High Court’s administrative committee should take appropriate action against the move to sabotage the case and that the police must start a fresh case on the basis of the latest allegations.

THE term McCarthyism refers to the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism. The US senator Joseph McCarthy led a witch-hunt against communists during the 1950s claiming that “there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathisers inside the United States federal government and elsewhere”. He could not prove his claims and later the term McCarthyism applied to similar anti-communist activities.

In Kerala too the same evil design of McCarthyism is at work against the CPI(M) and its state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan so as to keep the Party and its leaders under the smokescreen of suspicion. It includes manufacturing fabricated tales against the CPI(M) leaders, propagating unfounded accusations time and again, arranging to file suits in the courts so as to keep the propaganda alive, periodically introducing false testimony and hence proliferate a scathing campaign etc. This is being done on such a level that it may even astonish Joseph McCarthy! However, the recent CBI special court verdict discharging the CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin case because “the charges leveled are groundless, frivolous and unsustainable” is undoubtedly a blow on the face of those anti-communist conspirators.

The CBI special court while discharging the CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and six others from the list of the accused in the SNC Lavalin case came down heavily on the investigating agency with vehement criticism. The court held that “a person having a modicum of law in his cranium cannot accept such an absurd proposition propounded by the prosecution and the prosecution cannot be permitted to project such an absurd proposition in support of its case”. The charge sheet submitted by the CBI vividly vindicates the fact that all the allegations leveled against Pinarayi Vijayan are politically motivated. In fact, the CBI did not have any substantial evidence to substantiate any of its accusations made in the charge sheet.

UNFOUNDED ACCUSATIONS

The major accusation of the CBI was that all the accused abused their respective official positions with fraudulent and dishonest intention and thereby awarded the contract for renovation and modernisation of the Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniyar (PSP) power projects at an exorbitant cost to the SNC Lavlin, Canada at a fixed rate by violating all rules and regulations. The CBI further alleged that in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy the accused did not execute a binding agreement with the SNC Lavlin in the matter of receiving the grant of Rs 98.3 crore assured for Malabar Cancer Center (MCC) and thus shown undue favour to SNC Lavlin, causing wrongful loss to the government exchequer and corresponding wrongful gain to SNC Lavlin. The finding of the CBI is that it is the non-execution of a binding agreement that enabled the SNC Lavlin to back out from its commitment to arrange the grant and further argued that as the Lavlin had spent only Rs 12.05 crore for the MCC project, thus caused loss of the rest of the amount, i.e. Rs 86.25 crore. The CBI, contrary to the venomous campaign unleashed by some quarters against Pinarayi Vijayan by manufacturing a fabricated mystery on Technicalia, had to agree that Lavlin had spent Rs 12.05 crore for the MCC project through its (emphasis added) consultant Technicalia.

The court noted that the CBI has no case that any of the accused obtained any valuable thing or pecuniary benefit in connection with the deal. The CBI in its affidavit filed before the court earlier, in reply to a query of the court whether any evidences were left out to prove a monetary gain, affirmed that there was no evidence to prove that Pinarayi Vijayan or any middlemen had made any monetary gain. The CBI, which did not accuse any monetary gain, invents that the main consideration in awarding the supply contract (Addendum) to the SNC Lavlin was the offer of grant of Rs 98.3 crore to set up Malabar Cancer Center (MCC) at Thalassery. In its eagerness to appease its political masters, the central investigating agency ridiculously accused Pinarayi Vijayan for taking utmost concern and interest to set up the MCC. The CBI in its charge sheet blatantly accuses Pinarayi Vijayan of appointing his personal staff member as a special officer and initiating land acquisition proceedings and further argues, even after relinquished the post of electricity minister, he was keeping in touch with the special officer concerning the establishment of the MCC! The CBI was too blind to appreciate the commendable earnestness shown by Pinarayi Vijayan to materialise a dream project so as to serve the interest of the general public, but ludicrously depict such diligence as fraudulence.

HOLLOWNESS EXPOSED

The hollowness of the CBI’s arguments got exposed in the court. The court while analysing the argument of the CBI that the consideration for awarding supply contract is the offer of grant for establishment of MCC asked the CBI whether such a consideration can be branded as a consideration without any public interest. The court observed that “the prosecution is simultaneously attempting to brand the act of awarding supply contract a dishonest and fraudulent act abusing the official position of the accused and also an act taking into consideration the offer for grant for establishing MCC at Thalassery, a laudable object involving public interest” and held that the “allegations are mutually contradictory and destructive”. The court while rejecting the charge pronounced that when the contract was awarded taking into consideration a laudable object, no fraudulent or dishonest intention can be charged against the accused on that score.

The CBI’s charge that Pinirayi Vijayan entered into a non-binding agreement in the form of MoU on 25th April 1998 instead of a legally binding agreement in the form of MoA for MCC to be established with the grant offered to be arranged by the SNC Lavlin. The CBI further argued that it is the absence of a legally binding agreement that facilitated the Lavlin to back out from its commitments. The MoU to renew the PSP project was signed between SNC Lavlin and the KSEB in August 1995; subsequently an implementation/consultancy agreement was signed in February 1996. All these developments occurred under the UDF government when Congress leader G Karthikeyan was the electricity minister.

The court observed that till the execution of the consultant’s agreement dated 24th February 1996 there was no proposal to provide any grant for establishing any community development programme, including a cancer hospital at Thalassery. The court also notes that Pinarayi Vijayan was not there in the scene during that period. The proposal for a cancer hospital was mooted for the first time by the high power delegation led by Pinarayi Vijayan during October 1996 i.e. 11 months after the execution of the MoU and seven months after the execution of Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). Taking note of the documents submitted before it, the court held that there is absolutely nothing on record to show that SNC Lavlin had given any promise to fund or make available grant from any other Canadian agencies for the establishment of the MCC till the execution of the supply contract. Thus the court asked how a legally binding MoA can be executed between the government of Kerala and SNC Lavlin when there was no promise made. The court rejected the arguments of the prosecution and asked if it was a belated promise from SNC Lavlin how that promise can be the basis of a legally binding MoA.

The court exposed the mysterious intention of the CBI by stating that “the prosecution in the charge practically conceded the performance of promise, if any, on the part of the SNC Lavlin touching this undertaking and that is evident from the charge sheet that SNC Lavlin had shelled out Rs 12.05 crore from its purse”.

It is to be noted that the MoU for the MCC was signed on 25th April 1998, more than a year after the execution of the supply contract (Addendum was signed on 10th February 1997). Hence it vividly establishes the fact that the MCC grant was not at all a consideration for the contract given to the SNC Lavlin as the CBI argued. In fact, the proposal to set up the cancer hospital was by way of general assistance package which was being offered by certain developed countries to third world countries. It was in June 1997, during the visit of the delegation led by E K Nayanar, the late chief minister, to Canada that the Canadian officials agreed to set up a cancer hospital in the Malabar area where no specialised treatment facilities were available for cancer. And subsequently on the basis of the MoU, the SNC Lavlin had spent Rs 12.05 crore for the MCC project and commissioned the first phase of the hospital by 2001.

One should not lose sight of the fact that Pinarayi Vijayan relinquished the post of electricity minister on 19th October 1998. Even though the SNC Lavlin submitted the MoA to be executed with the state government to the subsequent UDF government, it did not take any step to execute the MoA even after repeated reminders from the Canadian agencies. The execution of the MoA was absolutely necessary for the Lavlin to arrange funds from various Canadian agencies such as CIDA and EDC. The CBI while levelling false allegations against Pinarayi Vijayan conveniently hid such crucial issues, thanks to the ‘caged parrot’ that echoes its political master’s voice.

The premier investigating agency was not ashamed of painting the effort to reduce the foreign loan component from Rs 173 crore to Rs 157 crore as a crime! The CBI termed it as an arbitrary move arguing that the delegation was without a technical member in the team but deliberately undermined the fact that a technical member has nothing to do with the Canadian loan. The court rejected the allegations of the CBI and held that “if the accused had any intention to help the SNC Lavlin for making unlawful enrichment, such substantial reduction in the amount would not have been made”. During the UDF period when Congress leader G Karthikeyan served as the electricity minister, the original consultant contract was signed on 24th February 1996 and the total amount earmarked was Rs 181.57 crore, including the equipment cost of Rs 157.47 crore.

It is vividly clear that all the accusations levelled by the CBI in the charge sheet are made without any backing of evidences. The court did not accept any of the charges levelled by the CBI against Pinarayi Vijayan. In fact, it effectively punctured all the cock and bull stories, nurtured and propounded by the anti-communist camp, and that were incorporated in the charge sheet by the CBI.

ALL over the country, AIDWA units are engaged in a campaign from November 7-15, to disseminate the message of its forthcoming national conference. The tenth all India conference of the AIDWA is occurring at a particularly significant moment of time, when the challenges before the women’s movement in our country are increasing by the day. In the struggle against gender oppression, and the fight for justice, and equality, AIDWA has been playing a leading role over the past three years, and has been uniting multiple voices of protest against the escalating instances of violence against women. The nearly 900 delegates who have been elected at the 20 state conferences held over the past three months are preparing to set out for Bodh Gaya, Bihar, where the tenth conference is scheduled to be held from November 22-25, 2013. They will discuss and debate these developments, and review their work minutely, over four days. Organisational aspects will be highlighted. The Bihar committee has geared itself up to the task of hosting the conference, and a 100 member reception committee, with Comrade Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi as its chairperson, and Rampari as secretary, has been constituted. The members are enthusiastically taking up the responsibility of conducting the conference in a grand manner.

CURRENT CONTEXT

Over the past three years, women of this country have been coming out onto the streets in constant struggles and campaigns against a wide range of assaults on their basic rights. In the aftermath of the Delhi gang-rape in December 2012, which shook the conscience of the whole nation, an upsurge of anger and outrage from all sections of people, especially youth, thronged the corridors of power, and forced some remedial steps to be taken. These limited measures have hardly addressed the tip of the iceberg, AIDWA’s experience in the 32 years since its formation as a national organisation in 1981 shows that the roots of gender violence lie deeply embedded in the economic, social and political systems that continue to exploit and oppress women.

Today, as AIDWA approaches its tenth conference, we take up the battle again, to oppose the corporate interests that are making inroads everywhere and threatening women’s lives and livelihood. Women coming out into public life in larger numbers are faced with complex forms of control, and manipulation. The tie-up between the corporate sector, and the conservative forces is aggravating the marginalisation and oppression of women, in old and new ways. AIDWA has been fighting these trends, and through its multidimensional struggles, continues to expand its influence, and presence, especially amongst the weakest, most underprivileged sections.

As the agenda of the communal and casteist forces to incite riots and polarise communities to garner votes becomes clear, the most urgent task before AIDWA is to bring together all the women’s organisations, and democratic forces opposed to communalism onto a broad platform, and strengthen the campaign for an alternative to the BJP, and the Congress in the forthcoming elections. This is a priority before the women’s movement, which has seen how women and children were the worst sufferers of the communal carnage during the Gujarat riots of 2002. It is at such a crucial juncture that the conference is taking place, in a historical spot where, centuries ago, the oppressive nature of Vedic Hinduism was challenged in theory and in practice!

It is the greatest injustice perpetrated by the capitalist system that, at a time when the advances in science, technology, communication, medicine, etc place all the resources at our command to ensure a decent standard of life, capitalist development is creating an environmental and ecological crisis that threatens our very existence today. And within this paradigm, unfortunately, women suffer the worst forms of deprivation, discrimination, and violence. Today, after arms, and drugs, human trafficking is the next major industry in the world. All over the world, the economic crisis has distorted growth, exacerbated inequalities, and has had a particularly adverse impact on the lives of women, both within the developed and the developing countries.

For this reason, AIDWA has to strive to keep alive its anti- imperialist traditions, and the tenth conference must raise a strong voice of solidarity with all those forces standing up against the imperialist forces that are unleashing war and causing devastation and misery in many corners of the world today. As founding leaders like Comrade Lakshmi Sehgal, and Comrade Pappa Umanath, who passed away in this period, had proved in the course of their own heroic lives, the battle for women’s emancipation and equal rights was, and is, inextricably linked with the anti-imperialist struggle. AIDWA will never forget this truth, and will continue to seek ways to stand up against imperialism, in defence of the rights of women across the world.

CONFRONTING NEO-LIBERALISM

According to the Global Gender Index, India’s ranking fell from 98 to 113 of 135 countries, during the five years from 2006 to 2011. Neo-liberalism has adversely impacted women’s status and livelihood in our country. 3 out of 5 women are anemic, every third child is stunted and every fifth child is wasted. Women from tribal, dalit, and muslim communities are especially affected, pointing to the skewed development policies that are leading to social imbalance, and marginalisation of the poorer, more backward sections.

Statistics show that large scale displacement in the name of development has occurred without proper rehabilitation of affected families. The women who depended on land, forests, and common property resources, to ensure survival of their families, are now at the mercy of the market. The agrarian crisis has compounded their woes. Women migrate in huge numbers, seeking work. They are the most vulnerable to all kinds of violence, and are deprived of all citizenship rights. AIDWA, along with other organisations, has been and will be part of the huge struggles for land rights, and against displacement without proper rehabilitation.

The vast majority of working women has been pushed into the ‘unorganised sector’ underpaid, and overworked, with no security as domestic help, home-based worker, contract labour etc. As ASHAs, anganwadi workers, para-teachers, they are denied minimum wages and work for a pittance. Only 25% of women are participating in any kind of work and, of them, only 15% earn wages of any kind. The lack of employment has hit women from the poorest households the hardest. Along with the trade unions, AIDWA has to plan for powerful joint interventions to protect the interests of working women.

The State’s withdrawal from many areas crucial to women’s lives like education, health, social sector, threaten women’s survival strategies further. It is estimated that 59% of households live in huts and shanties; 58% do not have access to piped drinking water, 55% to toilets and 32% to electricity. The privatisation of health and education has resulted in huge increase in costs for schooling and health care. The business model in education and health must become a terrain of intense struggle which AIDWA pledges to strengthen in the coming days.

In the face of the neo-liberal onslaught, AIDWA resolves to continue the fight for alternatives, including for Food Security and universal PDS. The conference will give a call for alternative policies, against the neo-liberal regime marked by corruption, for Left policies in the interests of the working people, and the working women of this country.

CLAIMING WOMEN’S RIGHT TO A VIOLENCE FREE SOCIETY

Women’s insecurity has grown beyond all measure. There is no place that is secure for them – their homes, their workplaces, educational institutions, public spaces, means of transportation are all sites of violence. Every single minute, a sexual crime is being committed against a woman in this country. Less than one in four rapists are penalised for their crime. Long pending amendments to the CrPC were won through struggle, but are hardly enforced. The prevalent mindset is still to blame the victim, though around 40% of rape victims are minors. Survivors are also denied justice because of the absence of proper relief and rehabilitation measures. For this reason, the conference will discuss how to strengthen our intervention on this issue. We will intensify the fight for the implementation of gender just laws, like the sexual harassment at workplace law, the new rape law, POCSO, the PWDV Act to name a few.

Today, as women’s assertion and aspirations are on the rise, the casteist, communal and reactionary forces are trying to impose restrictions, and shore up the patriarchal order. Moral policing has become widespread. Dress codes are being imposed on girls with impunity. Constitutional rights are under threat from conservative forces, especially the Hindutva forces, but it is a matter of concern that the State is not able to defend the fundamental rights of women in these matters.

In many states, khap panchayats, are resorting to killings and crimes in the name of honour. In Tamilnadu, two tragic deaths at the altar of casteist and identity politics reveal the extent to which politics and caste are converging against the basic democratic rights of youth to choose their partners. The attempt to conserve vote banks through caste mobilisation has led to killings and crimes in the name of honour, and yet, there is no separate law to deal with the multiple aspects of this violence. This is a challenge that will be taken up.

Contemporary modernism reflects capitalist value systems, and ironically, the most regressive anti-women ideologies, rituals and superstitions are being propagated by the corporate media machine. Dowry has gained a new lease of life. Women fall prey to forms of bondage that are disguised in glamour and glitter, but which are nevertheless as restrictive, and as oppressive as before. How can this be addressed?

Self-styled Godmen like the recently arrested Asaram Bapu, are using the religious belief prevalent among large sections of people to exploit women. Asaram was arrested because of our protests. There are many more Asarams around. They prey on superstition, on unscientific beliefs, to exploit women. In rural interiors, and in tribal areas, we find that, even now, women are being branded as witches, and killed.

The conference will form strategies to address all forms of violence against women, and will continue to unite youth, students, and other women’s organisations in this important struggle.

AIDWA will also address the alarming child sex ratio – 914 girls to 1000 boys – which, in the 2011 census, has come down to the lowest level since Independence. It reflects growth without equity, and is a measure of son preference in our society. Ironically, it is states with a high growth rate – Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, where the child sex ratio is the lowest.

AIDWA conference will issue a clarion call for policy alternatives that only the Left can offer, and take up the task of uniting other women’s organisations before the impending elections. It will take up as a challenge the violence being perpetrated in West Bengal by the TMC, in which many comrades have been murdered, and many people have been prevented from participating in the panchayat polls, fearing for their lives.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

On November 21, a massive rally will be held at Azad maidan, Gaya in which around 50,000 women are expected to participate. It will be addressed by Brinda Karat, Subhashini Ali, and other AIDWA leaders.

On November 22, Tripura chief minister, Manik Sarkar will inaugurate the conference. Women from different states who have fought for justice will speak about their experience. A book on AIDWA, written by Elizabeth Armstrong will be released. Other book releases include: On the violence in West Bengal, On neo-liberal globalisation and women (by Brinda Karat) and a publication on torchbearers of AIDWA, - carrying the profiles of some of our early leaders. The report on national and international developments, as well as the work and organisational reports will be discussed in detail. Commission papers on important issues of current relevance will be discussed.

On November 25, the new leadership of AIDWA will be elected. The team will once again pledge itself to the task of upholding women’s rights, and intensifying the struggle for women’s equality and emancipation. Through unity and struggle, we shall overcome!

MALALA YOUSAF ZAI

‎"I dont mind if I have to sit on floor at school. All I want is education. And I am afraid of no one."

JUSTICE MARKENDEY KATJU'S OPINION ABOUT MAMATA BANERJEE

“She is totally undeserving to be a political leader in a democratic country like India since she has no respect for constitutional and civil rights of citizens and is totally dictatorial, intolerant and whimsical in her behaviour.”

– Justice Markendey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India

MAOISTS SERVE INDIAN RULING CLASS

KISHEN JI, AN ANTI-NATIONAL

MAOISTS ARE AGENTS OF INDIAN RULING CLASS

MEDIA IN WEST BENGAL

“Politics, Journalism, and Big Business work hand in hand for the hoodwinking of the public and the plundering of labour.” (Upton Sinclair/The Brass Check (1919))